About the Green Skills Agreement
On 7 December 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed the Green Skills Agreement.
The Green Skills Agreement seeks to build the capacity of the vocational education and training (VET) sector to deliver the skills for sustainability required in the workplace that will enable individuals, businesses and communities to adjust to, and prosper in, a sustainable, low-carbon economy.
The Agreement is a statement of the commitment of the Australian and state and territory governments to work collaboratively with employer and employee representatives, the VET sector and community organisations to ensure that training in, and the delivery of, skills for sustainability is an integral part of all vocational education and training and is relevant to the needs of industry.
Objectives
The objectives of the Agreement will be achieved by:
- developing national standards in skills for sustainability within the requirements of the national regulatory framework
- the upskilling of VET practitioners so they can provide effective training and facilitation in skills for sustainability
- the strategic review of Training Packages (sets of nationally endorsed standards and qualifications for recognising and assessing people’s skills) to embed sustainability knowledge, skills and principles
- implementing a transition strategy to re-skill vulnerable workers.
Green Skills Agreement Implementation Group
The Australian Government is supporting implementation of the Green Skills Agreement through an allocation of $5.3 million over four years with the work commencing in 2010-11.
Members of the Implementation Group represent:
- Adult Learning Australia
- Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Australian Council of Private Education and Training
- Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Australian Industry Group
- Australian Commonwealth, state and territory governments
- TAFE Directors Australia
- Universities Australia
Green Skills Agreement Implementation Plan
The Green Skills Agreement Implementation Group met for the first time in February 2010 and commenced work on developing the Green Skills Agreement Implementation Plan.
The Implementation Plan was presented to the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE) at its meeting on 9 June 2010.
Through the Implementation Plan, work commenced towards achieving the four objectives of the Green Skills Agreement.
Activities under the Implementation Plan
- Australia’s 11 Industry Skills Councils reviewed Training Packages to identify skills for sustainability gaps, and completed the process of revising Training Packages to address these gaps in 2011.
- The Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA) Industry Skills Council developed a training unit to assist the Australian VET sector and the VET workforce deliver and assess training for sustainability.
- An evaluation of professional development programs available for VET practitioners in relation to the provision of skills for sustainability training commenced on 23 December 2010 and was completed in April 2011.
- To inform the development of the transition strategy, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) commissioned a demonstration project on future employment and training opportunities for Indigenous Australians in the Murdi Paaki region of New South Wales as Australia transitions to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. The research was completed in April 2011.
Plans for the life of the Agreement will be developed each year and the Implementation Group will report to MCTEE annually on progress.